The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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Mouse plague – like stepping on marshmallows

by 22 Comments

Our occasional series continues. Parts of south western Australia are experiencing mouse plagues. Not that uncommon given it is a massive wheat growing area.

So the choice appears to be hordes of rodents or being inundated with highly toxic baits.

Hope the link works.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-27/morawa-school-mouse-bait-closure-student-speaks/106719872?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link

Paul Simon dealing with his hearing issues

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I posted this interview with the rather excellent Anthony Mason on the Emmylou thread as someone mentioned Simon’s frailty. This is before he started playing live and discusses managing the issue, setting up speakers, what he can now play etc.

Certainly talks a lot slower.

His tour of UK getting very mixed reviews. Read of one guy walking out in Liverpool.

YouTube in comments.

Joe Bonamassa live doing Walk On Hot Coals

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Been sort of over Joe B – just puts out so much stuff. Heard he was doing a Rory album – The Spirit Of Rory and thought meh. But , hey, ok his voice hasn’t got the swing of Rory but jeez he is playing the frets off on this live in Cork show. I assume that is Rory’s Fender???

Clip in comments.

ATM – the continuing saga of the radio station turntables

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okay. So we went for the audio technica direct drives. Affordable and will probably see my stint out. Quite light, stylus weight set at 2. The sound is a step up from previous. However, the new arrangement in the studio has both turntables quite close to the 2 stacked cd players. I attach a photo of my first vinly double play. A Bob Dylan boot playing Dear Mrs Roosevelt with The Band from the Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert and a 1955 Folkways 10 inch of Brownie McGhee playing Good Morning Blues , since you ask. So the bench is laminated MDF. I find putting cds down or other faffing around causes noise thru the t/table. They need better isolation.

I was thinking big bubble wrap underneath a heavy board.

Thoughts ?

https://imgur.com/a/MzmuulR

Replacing our radio station turntable

by 26 Comments

I have discussed performance issues with out current Denon turntable previously. There is a rumble that we can’t eliminate and the bearings are sealed up.

Save any brillian solution from someone on here we think we will need to get a new one.

This Technics has been suggested. Any views on its suitability for the busy job of endless back cueing in a radio studio?

Thanks

https://www.storedj.com.au/products/technics-sl1210-mk7-premium-direct-drive-turntable-black

Dick Cavett interviews

by 14 Comments

A Rick Beato thing popped up on my FB feed. He was extolling the talent of Dick Cavett as an interviewer and used an interview with Oscar Peterson as an example. So down the YouTube rabbit hole I went. The list is vast and he is such a wonderful interviewer. The gentleness of his voice, gentle in nature too, thoughtful and occasionally left field questions. Anyhow. I came across this interview with Orson Welles. Wonderful. The rapport, the content – Welles meeting Hitler, Churchill etc. But also how Welles tells his stories. So articulate, the pauses. It’s great. link in comments.

RIP John Hammond Jr

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Obituary

Son of the great Colombia producer and talent spotter. John was true to the blues. The stellar musicians he had on his records is testament to good nature. Melbourne guitarist Jeff Lang posted this to Facebook

Very sad to hear that John Hammond has passed. He was a great performer, a brilliant guitarist with his own distinctively propulsive style which can also be said of his wailing rack harmonica playing (the late Chris Wilson noted that most rack players have to be pretty gentle but John seemed to really attack the harmonica on the rack), and someone who very effectively interpreted the blues canon and added his own stamp to the music without losing its essence. I had the chance to play on some shows with John over the years and he proved to be a lovely man, full of warmth and kindness. Despite my music being far from a purist’s idea of the blues, he expressed genuine appreciation, and even went as far as having my wife and I stay at his house instead of renting a motel room. He was a sweetheart. My thoughts to his wife Marla. RIP John Hammond.

Let me tell you about my Hot House Flowers night

by 28 Comments

Got a drink? Cereal in the bowl? Settled? This is gonna take a while.

I live in the country these days 2 hours drive from Melbourne near the southern tip of the Australian mainland. But I still like going to gigs. The Hothouse Flowers gigs in this iteration come highly recommended in this parish and they had sold out 2 shows with a third and final announced. It was a Tuesday, not the best day ,but fuck it. After some wines and discussion with Mrs Wells I booked the tickets.

This was a while back and 3 days ago a reminder popped up for a gig that both of us had forgotten about. Mrs Wells arced up and was a scratching so I enlisted a mate in town ,not a fan but hailing from Sydney he had never been to the Corner so OK.

Come Tuesday, the weather forecast is 34 degrees before an evening storm. For the informed, this is a recipe for hayfever hell. The storm releases pollen by the shit load which travels ahead of the storm on the fierce north wind.It’s a bastard and it was. On top of this,while sitting outside some grit blows into » Continue Reading.

Celebrating Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground and Nico

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Venue:

170 Russell ,Melbourne

Date: 31/01/2026

A celebration of Lou Reed. Note – not a tribute show a celebration. Tribute shows are fine for what they are. Play all the hits, pretty faithful to the original and heck they might even try to look like the band. This was different, established musicians with solid careers of their own playing stuff they like. Pretty close to the original versions but certainly not just the hits. Any Lou show that opens with Rock n Roll Heart ain’t a hits show.

Dave Graney, Melbourne veteran and formerly of the Moodists, Robert Forster of the Go Betweens, Mick Harvey ex Bad Seeds ,Rob Snarski of the band the Black Eyed Susans which included David McComb of TheTriffids and Stephanie Dalziel who I don’t know. I could tell they were serious when I saw the separate set of toms next to the drum kit,clearly to do the Mo Tucker percussion from the Velvets. A good band of experienced players and off we go. Dave Graney opened with the rocky tracks. Rock’n’Roll Heart was a disappointment of an album and the song itself still resonates for the fascile lines- I guess that I’m dumb, coz » Continue Reading.

ATM – 3 weeks in Japan

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Mrs Wells and I are planning to go to Japan in their autumn.

A week in Tokyo. Maybe Kanazawa instead of Kyoto. Perhaps somewhere more rural. That said, a bit wary of massive tourist hot spots. A few temples will be more than enough. Very keen to check out the jazz. There is a big festival in Yokohama. Has anyone been.

All feedback much appreciated.

Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl

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Not my cup of tea but remarkable in a couple of respects. Is that the first performance not in English? The depiction of settings from places not in America. Both aspects must have driven the MAGA nuts erm…. nuts.

Doubt most of the attendees would have seen a thing with all that staging.

ATM -fast chargers for devices

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Second ATM for the day.

This would seem a simple task but it is not working out this way. Mrs Wells wants a fast charger for her Apple devices – iPhone and Macbook.

Her iPhone has a lightning connection. Her laptop and my iPhone use USB C.

As I understand it fast charging requires a fast charging block that plugs into the wall and a fast charging lead that plugs into your device.

My questions:

1. Are all fast chargers the same if not what is recommended? 2. Do they have minimum charging speeds to be called fast chargers? 3. Can a charger be “too fast”? 4. Can you use the same block and lead on an iPhone and Macbook? 5. If I bought a lightning to USB C adapter can I use this for fast charging?

Many thanks